Ironman Lake Placid 70.3 Bib #24

This week the athlete bib #s were published for Ironman Lake Placid 70.3. There are a couple of thousand athletes registered for this race so I was pretty surprised to see that I was assigned #24. I’m not sure if these were assigned alphabetically or if those of us representing the Ironman Foundation were assigned a low range of numbers. Regardless of how or why I received 24, the significance in this number is pretty awesome.

For starters, it was one of my favorite numbers as a kid and worn by some of my athlete idols growing up like Willie Mays and Bill Bradley. In fact it was such a favorite, and I was such a fan of New York Knick Bill Bradley that I also wore #24 in high school basketball. As an adult it still holds water because my birthday is March 2nd and my wife’s is September 4th. So 2 & 4 continue to mean something.

Another key significance of #24 is the fact that February 24th, 2006 was my original leukemia diagnosis date which I talk about often. And while one would assume that an “anniversary” date such as that is a negative thing, I choose to think differently. The reality is that this disease continues to provide amazing opportunities and connect me with people and organizations that I never would have met without a diagnosis that I can call my very own.

So, on September 10th, I’ll be racing in beautiful Lake Placid New York for the 4th time feeling fortunate to be out there, fortunate to again be in remission, and fortunate to be wearing #24.

I draw parallel lines between the challenges we face in sport and those we face in life and try to use my involvement in the multisport world as a tool to encourage people to break through barriers and understand that all things are possible.